Edward Malinowski (born Edward Mersyk) was born on 14th May 1939, in Warsaw, on the now non-existent ul. Wielka - once one of the main streets in the city centre. His father, Marek (Mordke) Mersyk, was born in Kowel, Ukraine. His mother, Stefania Mersyk, née Frendzel, was from Warsaw. Both of his parents were lawyers.
When World War II broke out, the family lived at ul. Nowolipie 13, which later became part of the Warsaw Ghetto. They lived there with other relatives. In the ghetto, his father worked in a brush-making workshop, while his mother mended German military uniforms.
As a young boy, Edward was mostly cared for by his grandfather, Jakub Frendzel. He ended up the Umschlagplatz with his grandfather, from where he was rescued. Edward was drugged and smuggled out of the ghetto in a cart, hidden in a backpack. The rest of the family also escaped the ghetto and went into hiding on the “Aryan side”, mostly in a house at ul. Grójecka 104. They lived under false identities, including the surname “Malinowski”.
Edward's father was arrested by the Gestapo, when he tried to join the partisans, which caused his mother great distress. Following the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, the family ended up in the "Zieleniak" transit camp and were then transferred to the camp in Pruszków. Later, they hid in the outskirts of Warsaw until liberation.
After the war, the family moved into the apartment of Edward's aunt at ul. Marszałkowska 56. Edward graduated from the Staszic Liceum and began playing the violin and attending a music school. He then studied musicology for two years at the History Department of the University of Warsaw before studying at the Medical Academy, where he met his future wife. They both became doctors.
Following the 1968 antisemitic campaign, Edward Malinowski, along with his wife, daughter and mother, decided to emigrate. They lived in Austria and Italy, before finally emigrating to the United States in 1969. Edward settled in Detroit, where he worked as a cardiologist. He often shares his wartime experiences, including with young people at the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Michigan.
